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A podcast, “This American President” had a professor Allen Guelzo on to discuss Lincoln. This podcast can be found on Apple’s iTunes and was posted there on April 23, 2024. I am not endorsing or opposing Guelzo's interpretation. Here is my summary based on my limitations of that interpretation, which include my boys making noises over it :
Lincoln and religion came up and the professor said that young Lincoln was rebellious against his parent’s Baptist beliefs, which were Calvinist and implied that those were more harsh/strict. Lincoln as a young man was described as an infidel or atheist by some in his town, but Lincoln never outright said he was, but was known to say things of question. He had to become more favorable to religion when he wanted to follow Henry Clay’s footsteps into politics.
Lincoln seemingly became religious as an adult, but we don’t know for sure as Lincoln kept a lot of things to himself. He saw the Civil War as great suffering and wrote an argument out to convince himself as to why and came to the conclusion that God exists and would permit the suffering of the war to go on as a punishment for slavery that the whole country was guilty of. You can see this thought process in the “Second Inaugural Address.”
Lincoln’s political philosophy is based on the “Golden Rule” of “do onto others.” You can see this throughout Lincoln’s political life, but especially in his quote “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.” Lincoln believed that the Golden Rule applied to Democracy and that it was the foundation of “consent.” This is why slavery was wrong to Lincoln. The "Golden Rule" being an ancient belief and the foundation of democracy made Lincoln claim that Democracy itself was an "ancient faith."
Lincoln saw Andrew Jackson as a dangerous man who avoided the Golden Rule and consent. Lincoln is accused by some of hypocrisy in this by suspending Habeas Corpus during the Civil War, but professor Guelzo disagrees. Lincoln was faced with a Civil War, the Constitution isn’t clear on emergency powers, congress was out of session for several months so he couldn’t go through congress to suspend Habeas Corpus legally. When congress came back into session Lincoln laid out all of his actions and congress voted to approve. The rights were restored when the threat of more secession receded.
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." -Matthew 7:12
Interesting podcast, I thought that it could be of interest to others too.
Every U.S. president has been a member of a church, except for one: Abraham Lincoln.
He "rented pews for his family" at Presbyterian Churches in Illinois and Washington, D.C., "but never formally joined either one. And though he became more interested in religious questions toward the end of his life, 'Honest Abe' never directly identified himself as a Christian—even after he realized it could hurt him politically."
“He once spoke of how not having any kind of noticeable religious profile had levied what he called a tax on his popularity with the voters,” says Allen Guelzo, a professor of Civil War-era studies at Gettysburg College and author of" book on Abraham Lincoln. "It was something that he was aware of, something he tried to cope with, and yet he wouldn’t go the distance of trying to pretend that he was something that he wasn’t.”
A podcast, “This American President” had a professor Allen Guelzo on to discuss Lincoln. This podcast can be found on Apple’s iTunes and was posted there on April 23, 2024. I am not endorsing or opposing Guelzo's interpretation. Here is my summary based on my limitations of that interpretation, which include my boys making noises over it :
Lincoln and religion came up and the professor said that young Lincoln was rebellious against his parent’s Baptist beliefs, which were Calvinist and implied that those were more harsh/strict. Lincoln as a young man was described as an infidel or atheist by some in his town, but Lincoln never outright said he was, but was known to say things of question. He had to become more favorable to religion when he wanted to follow Henry Clay’s footsteps into politics.
Lincoln seemingly became religious as an adult, but we don’t know for sure as Lincoln kept a lot of things to himself. He saw the Civil War as great suffering and wrote an argument out to convince himself as to why and came to the conclusion that God exists and would permit the suffering of the war to go on as a punishment for slavery that the whole country was guilty of. You can see this thought process in the “Second Inaugural Address.”
Lincoln’s political philosophy is based on the “Golden Rule” of “do onto others.” You can see this throughout Lincoln’s political life, but especially in his quote “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.” Lincoln believed that the Golden Rule applied to Democracy and that it was the foundation of “consent.” This is why slavery was wrong to Lincoln. The "Golden Rule" being an ancient belief and the foundation of democracy made Lincoln claim that Democracy itself was an "ancient faith."
Lincoln saw Andrew Jackson as a dangerous man who avoided the Golden Rule and consent. Lincoln is accused by some of hypocrisy in this by suspending Habeas Corpus during the Civil War, but professor Guelzo disagrees. Lincoln was faced with a Civil War, the Constitution isn’t clear on emergency powers, congress was out of session for several months so he couldn’t go through congress to suspend Habeas Corpus legally. When congress came back into session Lincoln laid out all of his actions and congress voted to approve. The rights were restored when the threat of more secession receded.
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." -Matthew 7:12
Interesting podcast, I thought that it could be of interest to others too.
Yet, Lincoln did not believe “all men are equal” applied equally to Black and White people. I always found that shockingly disappointing about Lincoln.
Lincoln's religion was a type of proto-Americanism that gained ascendancy across the continent after his war ended. Lincoln was a disciple of Henry Clay and his American System.
Yet, Lincoln did not believe “all men are equal” applied equally to Black and White people. I always found that shockingly disappointing about Lincoln.
Lincoln was no social revolutionary, though the myth that has grown up around him has made him out to be some kind of moral crusader.
He did not see things through a moral lens, but rather through one of power. This is likely what endeared him to Karl Marx, who was indeed a Lincoln fanboy. While Lincoln admired Marx, he didn't entirely reciprocate those feelings as socialism was antithetical to the American mindset of the time and the system he was trying to build.
just like divinity has no gender, so too divinity has no politics. just as divinity is not proprietary to any particular religion or path, so too divinity does not identify with any political platform. and divinity does not identify with any specific nation or country or government.
to the extent politics, government, politicians, personalities, political agendas are discussed
is the extent that paths of religion and spirituality are NOT being discussed.
CD forum itself enacts its own "separation of church and state" in that politics is not discussed in the section of the forum for religion and spirituality. with good reason.
Lincoln was no social revolutionary, though the myth that has grown up around him has made him out to be some kind of moral crusader.
He did not see things through a moral lens, but rather through one of power. This is likely what endeared him to Karl Marx, who was indeed a Lincoln fanboy. While Lincoln admired Marx, he didn't entirely reciprocate those feelings as socialism was antithetical to the American mindset of the time and the system he was trying to build.
If he did not see through a moral lense then Do unto others has no meaning. That is why it is not Golden
This is a quote from a blog, see the link below. I knew about this. I just wanted to share here. If you believe it or not (you in general) is up to you.
Abraham Lincoln, [Paramahansa Yogananda] informed us, had been a yogi in the Himalayas who died with a desire to help bring about racial equality. His birth as Lincoln was for the purpose of fulfilling that desire. “He has come back again in this century,” [Yogananda said], “as Charles Lindbergh….”
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